Shojiro Kikukawa

Shojiro Kikukawa (菊川 昭二郎)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 150 lb.

• High School Chinzei High School

• Born February 7, 1945 in Kikuchi-gun, Kumamoto Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Shojiro Kikukawa played in Nippon Pro Baseball for 14 years.

Kikukawa signed with the Kintetsu Buffaloes in 1963, and he spent his first four seasons primarily in the NPB Farm Leagues; he only got 48 at-bats combined with the big club. He hit .275/.315/.327 in 73 games in 1967, and he was traded with Takashi Takagi to the Nishitetsu Lions for Tony Roig and Toshihiko Sei. Kikukawa hit .247/.281/.345 in 1968, and he slumped to .176/.223/.196 in 1969. He bounced back with a .243/.312/.297 batting line in 1970, and he struggled again in 1971 as he only hit .157/.205/.270 in 80 games.

When Kazuhide Funada left the team in 1972, Kikukawa got his starting spot at short and he hit .276/.344/.362 with a career-high 6 homers. He played 122 games with a .264/.321/.313 batting line in 1973 while moving to 3B (Kunizo Umeda took over at SS), then his batting line fell to .206/.282/.256 in 1974 and Don Buford took his spot. Kikukawa was traded to the Lotte Orions for Satoru Yoshioka after that season, and he hit .223/.281/.259 in 56 games in 1975. He went 7-for-44 in 1976, and he announced his retirement.

Overall, Kikukawa hit .236/.294/.298 with 522 hits and 21 homers in 14 seasons in NPB.

Sources

• Wiki Japan